8.5 apbio

Flashcards covering key concepts and vocabulary related to energy flow and ecosystems.

Ecosystem

The sum of all the organisms living in a given area and the abiotic factors they interact with.

Biotic factors

Living, or once living, components of an environment.

Abiotic factors

Nonliving physical and chemical properties of the environment.

First law of thermodynamics

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only transferred.

Second law of thermodynamics

Exchanges of energy increase the entropy of the universe.

Metabolic rate

The total amount of energy an animal uses in a unit of time.

Endotherms

Organisms that use thermal energy from metabolism to maintain body temperatures.

Ectotherms

Organisms that use external sources to regulate their body temperature.

Primary producers

Autotrophs that use light energy to synthesize organic compounds.

Heterotrophs

Organisms that cannot make their own food and rely on autotrophs for energy.

Gross primary production (GPP)

Total primary production in an ecosystem.

Net primary production (NPP)

The GPP minus the energy used by primary producers for respiration.

Secondary production

The amount of chemical energy in a consumer’s food that is converted to new biomass.

Biogeochemical cycles

Nutrient cycles that contain both biotic and abiotic factors.

Water Cycle

A cycle that is essential for all life and influences the rate of ecosystem processes.

Carbon Cycle

A cycle that is essential for life and required in the formation of organic compounds.

Nitrogen Cycle

A cycle important for the formation of amino acids, proteins, and nucleic acids.

Phosphorus Cycle

A cycle important for the formation of nucleic acids, phospholipids, and ATP.